


Running Away

by SneakABeer



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Acceptance, Angst, Barbara Maitland is mentioned, Based off the Beetlejuice DC script, Emily Deetz is mentioned, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Hope, I'm Bad At Summaries, Some Humor, beetlejuice is mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:47:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25154191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SneakABeer/pseuds/SneakABeer
Summary: Lydia rushed into the netherworld in an attempt to find her mom, but accidentally dragged her father in with her. Will she explore the netherworld in search for her mother, or will she follow her father back to the world of the living?“Dad stop!” She yelled, her voice hoarse as she panted and broke out of his grip. He turned around and looked at her incredulously as if confused about why she wanted to stop. “Why are we running away?” she asked, her voice quiet from dehydration. She was here to find her mother and escape the wicked demon who wanted to marry her, not run around in the empty abyss.
Relationships: Charles Deetz & Lydia Deetz
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Running Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BookwormQueen27](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookwormQueen27/gifts).



> DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the movie and musical Beetlejuice. This also follows the script written by the amazing Scott Brown and Anthony King! I do not own any of the characters (sadly) and no copyright infringement is intended. Thank you.
> 
> About time I added disclaimers...
> 
> I actually started working on this piece back in June, but I never finished it until now(Oops) This piece references my first piece, so you might be slightly confused at some point though I highly doubt it since it's not that big of a deal. Anyway, if you do want to check it out, it can be found [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24546010)!
> 
> This will serve as a warning that there are spoilers for the musical plot!

Lydia wanted to scream at her father as he dragged her deeper into the netherworld. He ran with fear in his eyes and an iron grip on her wrist that was starting to ache. It was true that many people wanted her dead at the moment, but she didn’t see the point of running. If she died, she would get to see her mom, and if she really wanted to escape, she could just draw a door on the wall with the chalk that she still had in her pocket.

“Dad stop!” She yelled, her voice hoarse as she panted and broke out of his grip. He turned around and looked at her incredulously as if confused about why she wanted to stop. “Why are we running away?” she asked, her voice quiet from dehydration. She was here to find her mother and escape the wicked demon who wanted to marry her, not run around in the empty abyss.

“There’s a boy band chasing us.” He replied, his eyes focussed on something far into the unfathomable emptiness. Lydia couldn’t help but scoff at that and think of how weird it sounded out of context, but the terror abruptly cut her off as it coursed through her body while she distinctively remembered the four men inching towards her like a predator cornering its prey. They all held weapons; a chainsaw, matchets, and… was that a weed wacker? Lydia could almost feel the blade of the matchet graze her throat, but before any harm was done they had all cowered back, quivering in fear as they stared at the puny flame that was pointed at them.

That was the one good thing her father had done for her ever since her mother died, and if Lydia was being honest, it made her feel all warm inside like she was in her parents' embrace as they hugged her at her 8th-grade graduation. Charles had protected her as he stole the caseworker, Juno’s lighter. The old woman was about to light a cigarette(which she really didn’t need) when he snatched it from her, pointing it at the boy band and threatening to set them ablaze if they dared to touch her. The boys automatically cowered from the tiny flame, reliving their death and remembering the plane crash where the flames had engulfed and killed them. Lydia could barely take them seriously anymore, as they had all huddled together and wailed. She even remembered one of them screaming, “I love you guys!– It was all about the music–I’m not gay, I’m bi! I just figured it out!” as Juno glared at them all. 

“Lydia! There is a boy band chasing us.” Charles repeated deadly seriously as he shook her shoulders, snapping her out of her trance. He looked frantically around the darkness and grabbed her wrist and started running again, “There’s got to be a way back home.” After a while, Lydia figured that it would be a good idea to tell him that she already knew how to return. 

“I already know how to get home.” She muttered. If her father had really wanted to leave, she would’ve given him the chalk earlier so she could start looking for her mom. Her father whipped around desperately and looked her in the eyes.

“You do?” He asked her as she took a stick of chalk out of the pocket in her dress. Her father watched intently as she drew a crude door on the pitch-black wall. She wasn’t going to leave yet though. She was going to find her mom.

“This is great! We’re saved!” He practically chanted in relief. Lydia let out a small sigh. She wasn’t particularly fond of her father’s actions and how she found him practically fucking Delia, but he was still her father, and she cared. She knew that he cared too since he had saved her from Boy Inferno and tried to help her escape even though she was perfectly content with staying and probably dying in the netherworld. He didn’t know that though. In fact, no one did. Aside from Beetlejuice, no one knew about her suicidal side or her suicide attempt. Lydia was glad that Beetlejuice had stopped her though. She had surprisingly enjoyed scaring people with the striped demon before he tricked her into exorcising Barbara. She didn’t know how she’d explain her death to the Maitlands, too.

Lydia closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “Just open it, go through, and your back.” She started, mentally preparing herself for her journey to find her mother. She never planned for any of this to happen. Her father was never supposed to follow her, but it seemed like all her plans went wrong. 

“What? Where are you going?” Her father asked her as she turned around. She tensed her shoulders. She’d have to be foolish to not see that coming. Of course, her father would wonder where she was going. She readied her response to his hardened stare.

“I’m staying.” She answered monotonously, hiding any traces of emotion that there might’ve been in her voice. 

“What?!” He yelled at her, causing her to flinch. Why didn’t he just leave? She had already drawn the door for him. What else did she have to do?

“Look, I want to be in the netherworld. If mom’s here–” She started off again as her father interrupted her madly.

“What are you talking about? You’re alive! We have to go back!” He shouted at her again. No one had technically stated that she couldn’t stay. The only rule was that once someone entered the netherworld, they wouldn’t be able to leave. She was just following the rules. 

“There’s nothing for me there.” She growled at him, holding back her tears. She just wanted him to go and leave her alone. Now that her father had shown her that he cared, she craved parental love more than anything. She couldn’t go with him though. Even though he looked like he genuinely cared at the moment, she knew that if she went back, everything would go back to the way it was, and she would be invisible, again. He’d redirect his attention and go bang the lame-excuse-of-a life coach again. It was also worth noting that if she returned, she’d be married to the sadistic demon.

“Don’t say that–” He told her, angering her. Was he blind to how he treated her? If he actually paid attention, he’d see that she just wanted to remember what was left of her mother. Her memory was now a small, flickering flame that her father was slowly repressing. Lydia had sworn on her life that she would never let it die, but it seemed like her father didn’t like that.

“Why not?” She snapped at him, cutting him off mid-sentence. She was getting annoyed at her father. He thought that he was so good at moving forward, but he wasn’t. He was a coward, and she was tired of him and her life moving ahead of her.

“You never want me to say anything. Anything that’s true. Or real. Or how I actually feel about things. You don’t want to hear it. She growled, a small sob breaking into her voice. Under her angry facade, she was just the desperate girl who wanted acceptance and understanding. Everyone had left her since they didn’t want to put up with her grief. They thought that it was a temporary thing, but they were proven wrong when she still hadn't gotten over it after a few months. Couldn't any of her friends be supportive? (No need to answer this one! It's rhetorical.)

“That’s not true, Lydia– look I know that things have been difficult since–” He walked towards her and gently reached out for her arm which she responded by recoiling several feet back. She had fallen for that before. After the funeral, her father had found her curled up on her mother’s bed, sobbing, and he rubbed her back and told her that they were going to get through it together and that he would be there for her if she needed anyone. She had opened up a bit after, and everything seemed fine until Delia came. The two were talking when she told her father that she was having a hard time and wanted to talk to him. He had merely apologized and continued talking to the wretched life coach. Now that Lydia looked back on it, she should have discovered their relationship sooner. The signs were too obvious. She should have noticed her father’s ruffled collar when she walked in or at least the way Delia’s eyes awkward darted around the room when she stared at her.

“We are finding a way through it…” He finished his sentence, purposely avoiding the subject of her mother. Lydia couldn’t help but scoff.

“I’m not. You are. So leave.” She told him coldly, regaining her composure. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the right words so she just turned around and started to walk away.

“This is absurd! I am not leaving you here!” He exploded at her. It wasn’t helping. She just wanted to cry now. A stray tear fell from her eye as she subtly wiped it away, not wanting him to notice.

She stopped and turned around, “It’s okay. You’ll forget about me. Just like you forgot about mom.” She told him quietly, a hint of bitterness in her voice as it shook uncontrollably.

He seemed shocked by her response as he took a step back. “How can you say that?” He whispered incredulously as she stood still, completely silent. She lifted her head and looked him in the eye.

You never talk about her! You won’t even acknowledge she ever existed! You won’t even say her name!” She shouted at him allowing silence to reign for a second. “Goodbye, Dad.” She added quietly before walking away. This time he didn’t try to stop her as she left. She didn’t know why, but her heart dropped at that. She was utterly alone. She let out a final sigh before walking faster.

“You remind me of her.” She heard him speak quietly in the distance. She stopped in her tracks, refusing to look at him as tears leaked from her eyes. She had no intention of wiping them. Earlier she just wanted him to remember her mother, but now that he had, she still wasn’t satisfied. Something still felt missing, like a hole in her chest, and she didn’t know what it was.

“Your mother… She had this way of showing me that I’m not as strong as I pretend to be.” He started quietly. Lydia could confirm the truth in that because he denied and refused to acknowledge her death. She turned around and looked at her father who gazed at her sadly.

“When she got sick… Lydia, I tried everything. Money, doctors– it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. I couldn’t fix it.” He told her regretfully. By then Lydia had averted her vision and just stared blankly at the ground. It was hard to accept the fact that her mother’s death wasn’t preventable. She assumed that if it was preventable she would feel worse about it.

“It wasn’t something you could fix.” She told her father, hating how it was true. Her mother had meant the world to her, and it was simply cruel that she had to watch her condition worsen day by day until the funeral.

“I should have been able to stop it, Lydia.” He told her, sounding like he was crying. “I should have been able to stop it.” He choked out as her vision blurred. What could she do? Everything was changing; her father’s feelings, her life, her family. Her life spun by frustratingly fast, and she couldn't believe that her mother had been dead for six months now. She just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry until everything was processed in her mind, but she couldn’t do that. If she did, she’d be even further behind.

“Emily and I had very different aspects of life, you know?” He told her. Lydia sighed in acknowledgment. She had experienced it. Her father would tell her to focus on the big picture and plan for the future, but her mother would tell her to enjoy and truly live in the moment. “I thought ignoring pain made me strong, but she thought that acknowledging our feelings truly helped us feel true to ourselves. I just hope you understand.” He rambled. Lydia felt her shoulders shaking while she gasped for air as tears poured from her eyes.

Neither of them spoke until Lydia decided to break the silence. “I didn’t know…” She told her father. She didn’t know that he had felt this way and grieved for her mother. 

“I didn’t know how to say it..” He replied sadly, as Lydia wished she could start over so that she wouldn’t have to feel alone and defeated. Her father stepped aside to process what he had told her and left her alone.

She didn’t know what to do. She had tried absolutely everything to find her mom and was so close. How could she go back? She would lose everything she fought for if she did, but maybe everything would be different when she returned. Maybe her dad did change. She also didn’t want to return to her demon fiancee. She was just running away… just like her father. She knew her mother wouldn’t freak out if she married Beetlejuice, as she had been one for supernatural romances, but Lydia just didn’t want to do it. The age gap wasn’t preferable either. 

“Mom, what do I do now?” She asked the empty darkness. She didn’t expect an answer. If Lydia went back home, she’d probably never see her mom ever again, but she could always keep her alive in her memory.

She saw her father return as he gave her a gentle hug. Her mother would want her to stay with her father. “Let’s go home.” She told him. She’d have to marry Beetlejuice, but there was probably something she could do about it.

“The demon with the stupid hair is gonna be waiting for us. What are we gonna do?” He asked her, obviously worrying about it more than her. Lydia chuckled. If there was one thing Beetlejuice liked about himself, it would probably be his fluffy color-changing hair. It changed depending on his emotions like the mood slime that modern children played with– not that mood slime even worked. 

“Well, he’s a con man. And the way to a con man is… you give him what he wants.” She mumbled, hatching her plan. If it failed, it could go horribly wrong, but it was better than starving to death in the netherworld.

“You mean marry him? But you’ll be–”

“Bound to him for a lifetime.” She finished for him, “One. Lifetime.” 

“Oh.” Her father replied, not quite satisfied with the plan. Maybe he didn’t even get what she meant. She scoffed a bit and rolled her eyes at the thought.

“Oh! Okay!” He answered again, probably understanding what she was saying. Lydia wasn’t that fond of the plan herself, but it was the only way. She turned around and tried to come up with a better plan. She didn’t want to kill Beetlejuice since he had technically saved her.

‘Don’t feel bad about it. He is out of control– he almost killed Barbara!’ A voice spoke in her head. Lydia supposed that was true, but how could she ever forgive herself if she killed a living, breathing human being? Sure he was an obnoxious, perverted fiend, but he still had feelings. 

‘That’s not true. You almost killed Barbara.’ Another voice argued. Lydia’s entire body tensed as the truth came out. She knew that she would never forgive herself if she did kill him after almost exorcizing Barbara. She didn’t want to harm someone who had cared about her since Beetlejuice obviously did at some point. It had all gone wrong after a misunderstanding, and the demon's abandonment issues weren't helping. She felt a hand brush her shoulder.

“Even if we leave, she’ll always be with us, you know?” Her father whispered gently. Lydia bit her lip and turned around. He looked at her understandingly, the cold indifference that she was used to seeing completely gone from his eyes. He was about to walk towards the door when Lydia interrupted.

“Hey, Dad… Promise we can talk about her?” She asked him, looking hopefully into his eyes. He just turned around and offered her his hand.

“Anytime you want.” He responded. Lydia let out the breath that she didn’t even know that she was holding as she stepped forwards and hugged her dad. He hadn’t expected it as he stumbled backward before cracking a small smile and patting her back.

Charles backed out of the hug, took a deep breath, and walked through the door. Lydia couldn’t help but gaze longingly into the door. She had a home now, granted that she’d have to work things out with Delia, but it was better than before.

Beetlejuice had it coming. As he would say it, she was going to seize life by the balls and then tickle... Nevermind... She wasn’t going to quote the demon. The things Beetlejuice said were far from appropriate. 

She had seen enough of the world to know that it wouldn’t be all unicorns and rainbows, but she wouldn’t let the Beetlejuice take it from her. Maybe her mom had planned it, but she knew who she was now. She wasn't afraid of marrying Beetlejuice since she was certain that her scheme would work. The hole in her chest would never be completely filled, but at least she had the satisfaction of knowing that she'd always have her mother with her.

“This is what you wanted, right?” She asked no one in particular. She scanned through the abyss one more time before plastering a confident smile on her face.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm gifting this work to BookwormQueen27 since they have a similar story called Homeless that I saw on Wattpad! You can read it on AO3 [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24663883) and on Wattpad [here](https://www.wattpad.com/905669966-homeless)! You should totally check them out! They're an amazing author and I know that they have quite a few works since I've read some of them!
> 
> Also sorry that this piece might be sloppier than I intended it to be, but I figured that I should post it now since I've been delaying it for far too long! I may edit it if I feel like there are changes that need to be made. Otherwise, stay safe and have a nice summer!


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